WEST LAINE.

PAULS.

A.

R.

P.

A.

R.

P.

North Butts

76

7

3

12

Hedge Furlong

146

14

3

10

The Blacklands

96

11

2

23

Furlong, near West Fields [47]

300

29

1

12

Cliff Butts

101

6

0

0

Furlong, heading ditto

80

6

1

18

Second Furlong from Home

52

3

3

19

Home Furlong

112

8

1

6

Wall Furlong

68

2

1

20

Furlong heading the Barns

52

3

1

18

Chalk-pit Furlong

52

3

3

32

Furlong next Chalk-pit

56

4

1

11

102

0

21

CHURCH HILL.

Church Hill

62

47

2

32

West side of ditto

216

42

0

16

Lead’s Furlong

72

7

0

13

96

3

21

LITTLELAINE.

Upper Furlong

292

24

2

23

Cliff Furlong

278

13

1

4

37

3

27

EAST LAINE.

Cliff Furlong

444

26

0

20

Furlong next Newbroke Ground

202

14

1

20

Second Furlong

116

11

0

16

Third Furlong

163

15

2

10

Fourth Furlong

72

5

2

34

Fifth Furlong

102

7

0

31

Sixth Furlong

108

8

3

30

Baker’s Bottom Furlong

253

21

0

13

Coombe Furlong

240

17

2

9

127

2

23

WHITE HAWK.

South side of the White Hawk [48a]

22

1

31

West side do [48b]

23

0

19

East side do [48c]

24

0

25

North-east side do

14

1

13

84

0

11

HILLY LAINE.

Islingword Furlong

200

26

1

34

Shepherd’s Acre Furlong

112

11

0

18

Fifth Furlong

298

25

1

14

Fourth Furlong

193

14

2

2

Third Furlong

366

29

3

21

Second Furlong

320

22

3

26

Gold’s Butts

1

0

12

Home Furlong

247

26

1

12

Breach Furlong

266

20

1

2

177

3

21

NORTH LAINE.

Home Furlong

247

16

3

25

Church Furlong

62

6

1

36

Second Furlong

216

14

1

15

Third Furlong

262 [48d]

17

2

30

Shepherd’s Acre

262

0

3

20

Fourth Furlong

254

17

3

35

Fifth Furlong

220

20

2

1

Crooked Furlong

97

8

2

24

Rottingdean Hedge Furlong

100

8

2

23

Home Butts

32

3

1

6

North Butts

52

6

3

0

The Crook

6

2

35

TheNorth side of Round Hill

34

3

16

South part of ditto

22

3

32

Scabb’s Castle

82

1

37

Tenantry Sheep Down

400

0

36

Field in Level

14

1

23

Black Rock Arable

20

2

0

Black Rock Down

112

2

16

The Town of Brighthelmston, including the Steine, NorthInclosures, Level, &c.

118

2

28

806

2

28

Contents of thewhole Parish

1562

0

12

Within the Laines were portions of ground termed “yardlands,” but where situated has not been fully defined. The chief record of them is respecting the

STOCK OF SHEEP.

68 Yardlands, at 16 sheep per yard

1088

The Reeve ,, ,,

20

The Dooling Leases ,,

16

The Shepherd to keep

none

Widow Barnard

none

1124

In the “Nonarum Inquisitiones” is the following descriptive valuation of Brighthelmston:—

“This indenture testifies that an acquisition was taken before Henry Husse and fellows, collectors, and assessors of the ixth of garbel fleeces and lambs, and of the xvth granted to our lord the king, in the county of Sussex, assigned at Lewes, on a Sunday, in the middle of the xlth year of the reign of King Edward the Third, from the nonal inquest, and the quindecimal concerning the true value of the ixth of garbel, (corn) ixth of fleeces, and ixth of lambs, by commission of our lord the king, directed to the aforesaid Henry and his fellows, by the oath of John de Erlee, Hugh Russell, John Dac’, and Ralph Grabb, parishioners of Brighthelmston—who say, that the extent of the church there is taxed at xxv pounds with the vicarage. And they say that the ixth part of garbel is worth this year, there, ix pounds, viii shillings, and x pence from the community of the town. Also the ixth part of fleeces there is worth xxvi shillings and vi pence, and the ixth part of lambs there, is worth vi shillings and viii pence. Also they say, that the ixth part of garbel and fleeces of the prior or Lewes there, is worth, vii shillings and viii pence. Also the ixth part of garbel and fleeces of the prior of Michelham, is worth xxx shillings and iv pence. And so is the sum of the whole ixth of garbel, fleeces, and lambs, this year, xiii pounds. Also they say that the ixth part aforesaid cannot answer nor attain to the taxation of the church aforesaid; for that xl acres of land are drowned by the sea for ever, which were worth per annum xl shillings. And also clx acres of land in the common plain, which have been deficient there this year in corn sown, to the value of x pounds. And because the wool cannot be sold as it was wont, the value of xiii shillings and iv pence is deficient. And also the lambs there will be deficient in the pasture this year, by defect of value vi shillings and viii pence. And the vicar has there the first-prints of one dove-house, value ii shillings. And the same has there in offerings, small tithes of geese, sucking pigs, honey, milk, cheese, calves, and eggs, and other small tithes which are worth yearly lxx shillings. Also they say, that there are here no merchants, but tenants of land who live by their own lands, and their great labours only. In testimony of which thing, the aforesaid sworn men have affixed their seals to this indenture.”

Chapter VIII.
THE BARTHOLOMEWS.

The chauntry, or free chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, was erected on a piece of land granted by the lord of the manor of Brighthelmston, to the Priory of St. Pancras, at Southover, Lewes, under a quit rent of 3d a-year. It was built to the south-west of the knappe or knab, originally called by the Saxon settlers, cnæp, (the summit or crown of a hill) from its elevated position. It is now generally known by the name of Brighton place. Attached to the chauntry was a dwelling for the two or three monks who officiated there. The chauntry was destroyed by the fire which devastated the town, on the landing of the French, under Primauget, and it never after recovered its accustomed use and influence. The almshouses, which were afterwards built on the site, were sold to the parish in 1733, for the sum of £17, and the dwelling of the monks, called the Prior’s Lodge, became the residence of the vicar of Brighthelmston, after the Reformation.

“Magna Britannia” mentions, “that there was a church near the middle of the town, and it was burnt down some years ago by the French.” This probably refers to the chapel or chauntry of St. Bartholomew. The Prior’s Lodge was pulled down by the Rev. Thomas Hudson, in 1790, the year he was collated to the rectory of Blatchington and vicarage of Brighthelmston. From the style of the architecture, and the decayed state of the timbers, there was ample room for supposing the building to have been erected not later than the close of the thirteenth century. In 1665 the Bartholomews is mentioned as a parcel of pasture. The parish workhouse, demolished in 1823, was erected on its site, and the rest of the space continued nearly plain ground till, in 1774, the market place was built, where the present Town Hall stands. The original market-place, that possessed by the town under the charter of Edward II., was on the cliff, where it had continued from the year 1313 till the close of the seventeenth, or the beginning of the last century; when, that part being sapped by the waves, the building was demolished. The vicarage house, which was substituted for the Prior’s Lodge, by the Rev. T. Hudson, was vacated by the present vicar, the Rev. Henry Michell Wagner, in 1835, and pulled down in 1837. The old vicarage garden was about a quarter of an acre in extent.

The first stone of the present vicarage was laid on the 24th day of June, 1834, and in the following year the structure was completed, and accepted by the Bishop of the Diocese, on the unanimous recommendation of six commissioners, namely, three laymen and three clergymen, to the effect that the exchange would be, in every respect, beneficial. It stands in a garden of exactly two measured acres; and was built by Messrs. George Cheesman and Son.

In 1584, William Midwinter, a sailor, sold the site of the chauntry to Thomas Friend and others, in trust for the said town, in consideration of the sum of £44, which had been raised by subscription among the inhabitants. It had been granted to Lord Cromwell, on the dissolution of the Priory of Lewes; and on his attainder and execution, to Anne of Cleves. It reverted to the Crown in 1557, after the death of that Princess, and afterwards came into the possession of Roger Blackbourne, a farmer of Yorkshire. In 1577 he aliened it to Milo Taylor, servant to Lord Buckhurst, and John Codwell, both of Southover, Lewes. Taylor soon after released his share to Codwell, who sold the whole to Midwinter.